1961, Korin, Mali. Converging the traditional sounds of griot and western dance music, Bagayogo has been nicknamed Techno Issa in his home country. The singer-songwriter began singing and playing the kamelégoni (a six-stringed harp, traditionally associated with hunters in the Wassoulou region) and the daro (a metal bell) while working on the family farm.
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Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane, 1965, Lady Selbourne, Pretoria, South Africa. One of the most distinctive voices in South African music, Mahlasela carried the torch for his country in Europe and North America at a time when he was relatively unfêted at home.Growing up in Mamelodi township, Mahlasela began singing and playing home-made guitar at
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Kanda Bongo, 1955, Inongo, the Belgian Congo. Soukous vocalist and band leader Bongo Man is the nephew of the celebrated Zairean singer-songwriter Jean Bokelo, who was instrumental in encouraging his musical talent as a child and later helped him to gain his first foothold in the local music scene. In 1973, with the brothers Soki Vangu and Soki Dianzenza, Bongo Man formed hi
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1968, Bamako, Mali. One of the new generation of female voices in Malian music, Sangaré made her first public appearance at the age of six at the Omnisports Stadium Hall in Bamako, encouraged by her mother, a sogoninkun singer who performed at weddings and rituals. She continued to sing through the rest of her adolescence and in 1986 she was recruited to the Malian tr
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12 November 1953, Podor, Senegal. Vocalist and guitarist Maal had humble origins, growing up in the sparsely populated town of Podor, where his father worked in the fields, but also had the honour of calling worshippers to the mosque using song. The influence of Islam would remain central to his sons activities too, both father and son being members of the Fulani commu
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Hugh Rampolo Masekela, 4 April 1939, Witbank, Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africas leading émigré trumpeter and band leader was born into a musical family, which boasted one of the largest jazz record collections in the city. One of Masekelas earliest memories is of winding up the household gramophone for his parents; by the age of 10, he was
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This group was formed in Beyla, Guinea, in 1961, under the patronage of President Sekou Toure, who was keen to foster indigenous musical expression, then under threat from the wholesale importation of western rock and soul. Bembeya Jazz arguably made the biggest contribution to the thriving state of local, traditionally based dance music in Guinea, establishing themselves as on
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Senegal. Clarinettist, drummer and singer Seck joined Orchestra Baobab (aka Orchestre Du Bawobab) during 1977. His break from the band two years later was reportedly owing to his ambitions to record in a more roots-orientated vein, contrasting mbalax with reggae undertones, while extolling the virtues of legendary Wolof heroes. This might have been anticipated given Seck
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Pascal Lokua Kanza, April 1958, Bukavu, Kivu, Zaire. Guitarist/vocalist Kanza studied at the Kinshasa Music Conservatory in his native Zaire, and in 1980 joined the band of superstar diva Abeti. The following year he relocated to the Ivory Coast where he worked as a guitar player with a number of bands, before becoming a singer in the Best Orchestra at the Hotel Ivoire in Ab
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25 August 1949, Djoliba, Mali. Born into one of Malis most distinguished families, albino vocalist/composer Keita can trace his descent directly back to Soundjata Keita, who founded the Mali empire in 1240. He originally wished to become a teacher, but unemployment at the time was high, so he switched to music. In the west, musicians are often thought of as dissolute a
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Formed in 1970 as the weekend house band at a Dakar club for government officials, Orchestra Baobab (aka Orchestre Du Bawobab) were early Senegalese fusionists who paved the way for artists such as Youssou NDour and Touré Kunda. The original line-up included Baro NDiaye (saxophone), Barthelemy Attisso (guitar), Latfi Benjeloum (guitar), Charlie NDiaye (
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The punningly named Baka Beyond began as a collaboration between former Outback guitarist Martin Cradick and the denizens of Cameroons rain forests, the Baka pygmies. Using their traditional rhythmic patterns alongside Western technology and musicianship, the projects 1993 debut Spirit Of The Forest managed to amalgamate these disparate sources into a series of haun
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1967, Koundara, Guinea. His father played kora with Ballet Djoliba, which he co-founded. Prompted by his uncle, griot master M'Bady Kouyaté, with whom he toured neighbouring countries, Cissoko also took up kora, a harp-like instrument. In the early 90s, he settled in Conakry, Guinea's capital, attending the National Children's Theatre; later, joining Kouyaté's
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4 March 1932, Johannesburg, South Africa. d. 10 November 2008, Castel Volturno, Italy. The vocalist who first put African music on the international map in the 60s, Makeba began her professional career in 1950, when she joined Johannesburg group the Cuban Brothers. She came to national prominence during the mid-50s as a member of leading touring group the Manhattan Brothers,
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